Wind Powered GreenBird Breaks One Record...Aims for Another Within the Year

Wind powered transportation is nothing new to this planet. While it has remained on the lakes and oceans for the most part, there are a few people out there who have brought it onto dry land. One such person, Richard Jenkins, has taken wind power to a new level by breaking the land speed record for a wind powered vehicle.

The amazing piece of engineering you see is called the GreenBird and was designed and built be Jenkins himself over the span of about 10 years. Interestingly enough, Ecotricity, the company who is working hard on designing an all electric Lotus that uses electricity from an all wind powered grid, sponsored the project.

The GreenBird is constructed almost entirely of carbon fiber to keep the weight at a minimum and every surface was carefully shaped to provide the maximum of forward thrust and the minimum amount of drag. The combination of low weight, low drag and highly efficient foil design was able to propel the GreenBird to a record breaking speed of 126.1mph. This surpassed the previous record by a full 10.1mph.

What's next for Mr. Jenkins? According to him and his team, they are planning on using a modified GreenBird to break the same record on ice, which currently stands at 83mph. The wheels will be replaced with skis and the design will include another arm extending from the opposite side to provide more stability.